What To Look For When Shopping For An Electric Guitar

The electric guitar has long been used in many popular styles of music, including almost all genres of rock and roll, country music, jazz, blues, ambient and even contemporary classical music. It uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, which is then amplified.

The electric guitar can be played either solo or with other instruments. It has been used in numerous genres of popular music, as well as classical music.

Different types of electric guitars

There are various types of this popular instrument available in the market. While shopping for an electric guitar for one's personal use, the decision should be carefully taken about which one will be the right choice and make. The types include:

Solid body
These guitars have holes for neither sound nor an internal cavity to accommodate vibration, such as those used to amplify string vibrations in acoustic guitars. They are generally made of hardwood with a lacquer coating and have 6 steel strings.

Hollow body
These guitars have a hollow body and electronic pickups mounted on its body. The hollow body vibrates and the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into an electrical signal.

Electric-acoustic
In these guitars the pickups do not produce a signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or body. So,these are also called acoustic guitars.

Seven-string
Seven string electric guitars were popularized in the 1980s.

Eight string
Eight string guitars are rare, but not unused.

Twelve string
Twelve string instruments feature six pairs of strings, usually with each pair tuned to the same note.

Apart from these there are few other types of these popular makes available in the market which are bought according to their requirement.

Selecting the right kind of electric guitar

The primary reason for buying a guitar will be playing it. But one would also look for something whose resale value will increase in time. Craftsmanship is an important element in the future value of this instrument.

Areas that require special skills, such as binding, finishing, hand shaping and inlaid work, are forever expensive and will enhance the value of guitars in the future.

Thus things to look for while buying an electric guitar will be

Good Tone Wood
Although the sound of a good guitar would seem to come entirely from the pickup, the type of wood has an important influence on tone and sustenance.

Noise free instrument
The pickups on guitars and basses should be shielded from extraneous electronic sources that can cause humming and buzzing. And they should be covered in wax or epoxy to prevent micro phonic feedback.

Checking out the Neck Joint
The neck joint should be tight and rigid so that none of the string vibration is transferred to the neck.

Testing the sustenance
An electric guitar with greater rigidity and weight, such as a solid body, will sustain longer than one with less rigidity, such as a hollow body.

Checking out the bridge
The bridge maintains intonation and action of string height. Adjusting the truss rod or changing string gauge can change intonation or action.

The Truss rod
An adjustable truss rod can correct any changes in neck curvature.

These are the basic and most important factors to be considered. But, there are various other factors to be considered while shopping for an electric version. And while buying one should remember that a good guitar is for a lifetime.

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